MANSFIELD - Ontario officials are considering adding a pothole tax to the ballot for voters to decide this fall.

Service-safety director Jeff Wilson said during an Ontario City Council streets committee meeting last week a municipal income tax could generate $400,000 to $500,000 in revenue for repairs of potholes on residential streets.

"Believe me, we could spend that kind of money for years on our side streets, no question," he said.

Wilson suggested a quarter-percent income tax. but said the percentage would be based on whatever amount would generate $500,000.

Councilman-at-large Larry Arnold said he wished the city could implement a sales tax to fund road repairs in the city.

"You've got hundreds of thousands if not millions of people that come in from other places that are using our roads and tearing them up, and they pay for nothing, but we're gonna tax our citizens for that," he said.

Wilson said with the tax, the city "could easily make the commitment to only do residential streets," not the city's major roads, such as Lexington-Springmill Road, Walker Lake Road and Fourth Street.

"Use the other money that we have for our bigger projects or our thoroughfare projects," he said.

Mayor Randy Hutchinson said a committee made up of residents would decide what streets are resurfaced.

"You'd put a committee of citizens, not any of us here, a committee of citizens to decide what roads are done," Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said up to eight to 10 side streets could be resurfaced each year.

The city's administration is researching adding the issue to the fall ballot.

"If we put it on the ballot, our citizens decide whether or not they want that," Wilson said.

Arnold said he liked the idea of putting the issue on the ballot, rather than the administration or city council making the decision.

"We make a lot of decisions for the voters," he said. "I think something like this, though, should be brought to them."

Richland County Board of Elections Director Paulette Hankins said the deadline to get an issue on the November ballot is Aug. 8.

In Mansfield, the "pothole haters tax" is a charter amendment imposing a 0.25 percent municipal income tax to repair the city's streets and park roads.

Mansfield voters last approved the tax, which has been in place for more than 30 years, in the May 2017 election. It took effect in July 2017 and will continue for another four years before it returns to the ballot.